Receive free HSBC Holdings PLC updates
We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest HSBC Holdings PLC news every morning.
HSBC is in advanced talks to poach a team of senior Middle East wealth managers from Credit Suisse, as it looks to challenge its rival in the Gulf, according to two people with knowledge of the moves.
The loss of Credit Suisse Qatar chief executive Aladdin Hangari and up to five members of his team would be a blow to UBS, which last month completed the takeover of its Swiss rival and plans to build the biggest private bank in the region.
Hangari is close to agreeing terms with HSBC, although a deal has not yet been finalised, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
UBS has been keen to hold on to Credit Suisse wealth managers, especially in high-growth regions such as the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, but the disruption of the takeover has prompted competitors to pounce.
Hangari is a key relationship manager for Credit Suisse in Qatar, a country that had close links to the bank, with the Qatar Investment Authority one of its biggest and longest-serving shareholders. The bank has 21 staff focused on the country.
Credit Suisse also provided banking services to some of the country’s wealthiest citizens, including former prime minister and QIA head Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, whose son, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani was a longtime Credit Suisse board member.
Sheikh Jassim is currently trying to buy Manchester United football club in a protracted bidding war with Ineos founder Jim Ratcliffe.
Credit Suisse and HSBC declined to comment.
Another Credit Suisse executive who developed close ties to Qatar over the years was Eric Varvel, who left the bank 18 months ago after being tarnished by the closure of a $10bn group of investment funds tied to the collapsed finance company Greensill Capital. Varvel had been head of asset management at the bank at the time.
Under Middle East chair Samir Assaf, HSBC has been embarking on an expansion drive, targeting ultra-wealthy clients and families in the region.
In recent months, HSBC has recruited former Lombard Odier bankers Mario Luis Penabad and Mathieu Brizon for its Saudi Arabia office.
In addition to his role at Credit Suisse, Hangari is also acting chief executive of Aventicum Capital Management, a boutique asset management joint venture between Credit Suisse and QIA, which has about $1.5bn of assets under management.
Were he to leave, his replacement at the bank would be confirmed in the next couple of weeks once UBS announces the roles for up to 1,500 managers on the third level of its corporate structure, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
HSBC has had a presence in Qatar since 1954. Along with other international banks, it came under pressure in mid-2017, when the gas-rich state’s neighbours led by Saudi Arabia imposed a trade and travel embargo, claiming Doha fostered Islamist extremism.
Regional financial heavyweight Saudi Arabia put pressure on international banks to limit ties with Doha and exacerbate the boycott.
Saudi Arabia in 2021 led efforts to end Qatar’s isolation and since then Doha has hosted a successful football World Cup last year and is expected to benefit from a financial windfall as it expands natural gas export capacity in the coming years.